The book examines the main stages and features of the military-political relations of Ancient Russia and Byzantium in the Crimea and the Sea of ​ ​ Azov. A series of essays, recreating their general and, if possible, holistic picture, is devoted to the key problems of Byzantine-Russian ties of the 11th - early 12th centuries, the quintessence of which was the interaction of the empire and Russia in this strategically important region.